Electronic gaming devices utilizing electronics and software to control game operation are a popular alternative to traditional table based gaming. As is known in the art, electronic gaming devices generally include a processor, a software storage device, a video display and software configured to interact with the processor, software storage device and display to present a game for play by a player. Traditionally, the software storage device comprised a read only memory (ROM) device, such as an EPROM, to satisfy strict gaming regulations promulgated by gaming control authorities to insure fraud free game play and prevent unwanted alteration of the gaming software. Such alteration could affect gaming odds and provide either the electronic gaming device owner or the player with an unfair advantage.
To insure that the game play is fair, the software that controls game play is inspected and authorized by the gaming control authorities prior to installation of the software on the machine. At any time thereafter, the gaming software can be analyzed by the casino or the gaming control authorities to verify that the gaming software has not been altered. Thus, the gaming regulations require that means exist to verify that the software controlling the gaming device is the same software approved by the regulatory body.
In the past, the traditional method to configure gaming machines to comply with gaming regulations was to submit the software to gaming regulators for approval. After the software was approved, a mathematical operation was conducted on the software code. This mathematical operation generates a value that is generally unique to the particular software code. This value was recorded by the manufacture or the gaming regulators for later use. In one embodiment this value is generated by a hash operation and is referred to as a hash value.
After the software is approved the hash value is stored for future reference. The approved software may be stored by a regulator entity and also stored on a ROM. A copy of the approved ROM is eventually installed in a gaming machine. The ROM is a desirable apparatus for storage due to its general read only operation.
Thereafter, if it is required to determine if the software had been altered, the ROM was removed from gaming machine for analysis by an authentication device operated under the control of the appropriate authority. This authentication device subjects the code on the ROM to the same mathematical operation as performed by the gaming regulators to generate the hash or other identifying value. This new hash value is manually compared (visually) to the previously recorded hash value. If the values match, the software code has not been altered and hence can be trusted. This operation is commonly referred to as “authentication.”
While the ROM authentication process satisfied gaming regulators, it hampered advancement of game development and subjected regulators, casino operators, and gaming machine manufactures to increased costs and limitations.
For example, one drawback is the limited storage capabilities of a traditional ROM, i.e. EPROMs. This prevents the game developers from integrating more features into the game and gaming device due to limitations in software storage space.
Another drawback arose as a result of the use of a specialized devices for authentication. Commonly EPROMs are authenticated with an EPROM reader, such as one available from Kobetron. This authentication method required a skilled technician to remove the ROM from the socket on the electronics board and place it in a specialized reader. Not only are skilled technicians costly to employ, the pins of the ROM were often damaged during the process of removal, testing, and re-insertion. Moreover, this process resulted in the gaming device being out of service for a undesirably long period of time. Hence, casino revenues were lost. In many jurisdictions government representatives must be present when a processor board is accessed.
A similar drawback arose when the game was updated or a new game installed at the machine. To update a game on a gaming machine using the ROM for game storage, the entire ROM would have to be removed and a new ROM inserted or installed. For the above reasons, this is undesirable.
One proposed alternative has been to install a larger storage device than a ROM, such as a hard drive, in the gaming machine to provide additional storage for software or data. This proposed alternative is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,643,086 entitled, “Electronic Casino Gaming Apparatus with Improved Play Capacity, Authentication and Security” owned by Silicon Gaming. In this arrangement if the game requires updating or replacement, it may even be necessary to replace the entire hard drive. This is an expensive and labor intensive undertaking. Further, with this type of installation, it may not be possible to diagnose the gaming machine, or service the gaming machine.
There exists therefore, a need for an improved method and apparatus for storage, authentication, and modification of gaming software in a manner capable of complying with gaming regulations.